“I have hope”: for the second time a pig heart was transplanted into a human in the US

A 58-year-old patient this week became the second person in the world to be transplanted with a genetically modified pig heart, a new illustration of an area of ​​research that has been very active in recent years. An operation of this type was performed for the first time in 2022 at the same establishment, the University of Maryland School of Medicine, in the United States.

The then-patient, David Bennett, died about two months after the procedure, “due to a multitude of factors, including poor health” before the transplant, the university wrote in a statement Friday.

These animal-to-human organ transplants, called xenografts, could offer a solution to the chronic shortage of organ donations. More than 100,000 Americans are currently on the waiting list for a transplant.

“The only option”

The new operation took place on September 20. Lawrence Faucette, a retired former soldier, suffered from a serious heart condition that would almost certainly condemn him to his death. He was declared unfit to receive a human heart transplant, so this solution represented “the only option” for him, according to the press release.

“At least now I have hope and I have a chance,” he declared before the intervention, according to the same source.

“We have no expectations other than spending more time together,” his wife said. “It can be as simple as sitting on the front porch and having coffee together.”

Lawrence Faucette is currently breathing on his own and his new heart is working well, without assistance, doctors said. He takes immunosuppressive treatments, in addition to “a new antibody therapy,” to avoid rejection.

Xenografts pose a challenge because the recipient’s immune system tends to attack the foreign organ. That is why pigs are genetically modified, to also reduce this risk.

Recently, kidney transplants from genetically modified pigs have also been performed in brain-dead patients. The Transplant Institute at New York University Langone Hospital announced this month that it had successfully operated on a pig kidney on a deceased person for two months, a record.